Wednesday, December 05, 2007

2007 National Board of Review {Winners}

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORDATONEMENTTHE BOURNE ULTIMATUMTHE BUCKET LISTINTO THE WILDJUNOTHE KITE RUNNERLARS AND THE REAL GIRLMICHAEL CLAYTONSWEENEY TODD

Reaction: Not a surprise about the winner. No Country is a lock for a nomination now. The big surprise here is Bucket List, which is probably a desperate Oscar-bait film. We'll see if it manages to get any traction from this. Lars and the Real Girl is also a bit of a surprise. NBR clearly liked this one, as we'll see further down. The rest are to be expected really. Ultimatum got great reviews.

Who this hurts: All the quirky and dark stuff that were left out, especially There Will Be Blood. This also brings Kite Runner, Clayton and Sweeney firmly into the BP hunt, and probably ahead of Anderson's pic in the race now.

Best Director: TIM BURTON, Sweeney Todd

Reaction: Yay! This is a pleasant surprise! If the conservative NBR really liked Burton's dark and wacky musical others are bound to love it.

Best Actor: GEORGE CLOONEY, Michael Clayton

Reaction: Meh. Don't get me wrong, he's good. But there were better. I think the fact that the movie is named after him and puts so much of the spotlight on him definitely helps.

Best Actress: JULIE CHRISTIE, Away From Her

Reaction: Excellent news. My favourite performance of the year. I think the prizes could get divided in this category, which will make a change from last year. Lol.

Best Supporting Actor: CASEY AFFLECK, The Assassination of Jesse James

Reaction: I'm sure Gone Baby Gone helped. He's had a good year. I definitely think he'll make the Oscar lineup.

Best Supporting Actress: AMY RYAN, Gone Baby Gone

Reaction: The Satellites and now this. The NBR Supp Actress pick is usually quite strange. Blanchett loses one already! Unthinkable.

Best Foreign Film: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLYBest Documentary: BODY OF WARBest Animated Feature: RATATOUILLE Best Ensemble Cast: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MENBreakthrough Performance by an Actor: EMILE HIRSCH, Into The WildBreakthrough Performance by an Actress: ELLEN PAGE, JunoBest Directorial Debut: BEN AFFLECK, Gone Baby GoneBest Original Screenplay (tie): DIABLO CODY, Juno and NANCY OLIVER, Lars and the Real GirlBest Adapted Screenplay: JOEL COEN and ETHAN COEN, No Country For Old Men

Reaction: A blow for La Vie En Rose. Otherwise this is standard, but for the win for Nancy Oliver, which coupled with the top 10 inclusion is a boost for Lars' chances at a Screenplay and maybe even an Actor nom. Who knows?